Decent and cheap cooling

GeForce · TweakNOOB Joined: 22 Jan 2005 Posts: 81

In the near future im planning on overclocking my Athlon, but before i do i got to find some more cooling. Im looking for another external fan and a CPU fan. Since im only 14 it needs to be in decent price range £15-30 (for all you US of A'ers $30-60 i think). Currently my CPU is running at 65 degrees celsius, which is why i would like to bring it down to about 40-50. Im also switching cases soon, as mine is totally screwed and the other case has handy features like windows and extra fan holes etc. Cheers!
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fussnfeathers · Lord of the Tweak Joined: 14 Dec 2004 Posts: 2763

That's a really high CPU temp..........you should only be idling at a max of 40c for that proc, if not a touch lower. 50c or so on load, with a stock cooler.

Since you're on a budget, and you've apparently already got a case picked out, I would outfit it with a few good case fans, leave your stock cooler for now, and see how it runs.

What case are you getting, btw? If it has crappy airflow, even a $100 HSF won't help you at all.
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mojo1340 · UberTweaker Joined: 19 Jun 2004 Posts: 1022

The first rule here is this: No matter howw good your HSF is, thr absolute lowest temperature you can hope for is the case temperature. I always recommend taking the side panel off, cleaning the dust off of the cooler, placing a fan to blow room temperature air into the case and then see what your temps do. If your CPU temp drops dramatically, you need better airflow in the case. The diode may be reporting an incorrect temp as well.

GeForce · TweakNOOB Joined: 22 Jan 2005 Posts: 81

Hi, i already have the case.

Its got a window, sound reactive neon light, a few fan slots etc. It should be better for me as i want to have my PC looking good as well as having some good stuff in it. I might actually buy 2 fans. Why dont i need to change the stock fan? If its 65oC shouldnt that be the problem?
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GeForce · TweakNOOB Joined: 22 Jan 2005 Posts: 81

Cheers for the advice mojo, so what youre saying is, i need a fan blowing in room temperature air, and another blowing out hot air? Currently i have my current case lid off all the time (will be changing cases shortly), should i be putting it back? Thanks
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mojo1340 · UberTweaker Joined: 19 Jun 2004 Posts: 1022

If you're currently running the case open (with the side cover off) and room temperature is reasonable, then your temps are high. However, you should determine if the CPU temp is, in reality that high. For example, is this high temp a recent devolopment or has it always been that high. Give me a rundown on what mobo you have for starters.

What I'm saying is, if the motherboard isn't reporting the temp correctly, changing the cooler may be a waste of time and money. You need to get a handle on what is actually happening first, before you think about upgrading the HSF and overclocking.

GeForce · TweakNOOB Joined: 22 Jan 2005 Posts: 81

My mobos in the sig

Asus A7N8X 2.0 Deluxe. So what exactly do i need to do? What fans do i need? www.microdirect.co.uk is a site i use to buy my parts most of the time, and would also like to buy a couple of fans off there. How do i know which to buy, like hot air outake and cool air intake?
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PhRoZeN_X_ · SirTweaksabit Joined: 19 Jun 2004 Posts: 410

For proper cooling i suggest you keep the side panal ON for good Clean air flow. With the side off you will get dead packets of warm air that doesn't want to circulate. I used to keep the side off of mine but on nathans advise put it back on and it lowered my temps my 9'C. Having a 80-120 mm fan on the front of case ( intake) and a 80-120mm on rear for exhaust , should be sufficent and keep agood air flow through system and keep mobo, cpu, ram and even chipsets temps down also.
I personaly have 2 x 80mm in rear , 2 x 80mm in front and a 120 on side ( blowing air directly onto cpu. This does a wonderful job for me.

fussnfeathers · Lord of the Tweak Joined: 14 Dec 2004 Posts: 2763

That's more or less what I was saying. If your case has crappy (or no) airflow, that's 75% of your problem right there. Stock AMD coolers are actually pretty good, so with a decent airflow and good ambient temps, you should be able to drop that CPU temp by at least 20C.

I agree with Phroz..........two good fans are usually sufficient, as long as your wiring job is neat. Tuck unused wiring out of the way (on top of the CD drive is a handy place), use rounded cables if you can, keep a space between drives, and you should be good.

I have the same basic setup Phroz has, two 80mm front, two rear, and one 80mm side intake. That keeps my 2.8c P4 at 32-34c idle, 50c on a heavy load.
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ToggleHead · TWEAKGURU Joined: 03 Mar 2004 Posts: 4360 Location: Jersey

another key thing to consider is a blowhole fan. This is the fan on top of the computer case. As we all know, heat rises, and that being right near the Power supply (PSU), can pocket heat up there. Installing a blowhole might not be a bad idea.
I have the same conifg as FnF, add a blowhole, and im OCed to 3.75 and the case temp stays down even in my POS case...lol

Also, maybe a reseating of the stock Heat Sink Fan (HSF) with some Artic Silver 3 Thermal grease might help too.
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Yoshida · UberTweaker Joined: 24 Dec 2003 Posts: 1219

also dont forget, keeping your pc lower the the ground will help out with temperatures a little bit (just uh dont leave it on your carpet)

GeForce · TweakNOOB Joined: 22 Jan 2005 Posts: 81

Thanks alot guys for the help, im probably going to buy around 3 fans now. Only question i do have now is that i only have 2 rear fan slot hole things (if you know what i mean). How do i go about installing some fans on the front and on the side? Cheers!

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Xal · Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2005 8:34 am Post subject:

2 words dude, dremmel tool (spelling...)

you will have to cut a hole into the top of the case the right size for the fan, I say top because its one of the est spots to help your cooling. Make sure the fan blows up.......

Happy modding :)
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Custom case

GeForce · TweakNOOB Joined: 22 Jan 2005 Posts: 81

Oh right, screw that then, dont even have one of them, let alone know what im doing with it! I'll just switch cases at the weekend or something (ive never actually done that, so im gonna get some help, looks daunting lol).
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AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+, Gigabyte S series nForce550, 256mb GeForce 7800GTX, 1gb PC6400 Geil DDR2 150 & 80gig HDD, 650W PSU

fussnfeathers · Lord of the Tweak Joined: 14 Dec 2004 Posts: 2763

Most cases have at least two fan mount locations on the front. To access them, and install fans, you'll need to remove the front bezel of your new case. You'll see them then, they're right in front of the hard drive cage. How you do this depends on your new case...........cheaper ones will have at least 3 thumb-tabs on each side, more expensive cases will have some sort of latch or thumbscrew setup for easier removal. Just be careful, since most cheaper cases have the power and reset buttons hardwired to the bezel..........so if you yank it off too hard, you could pull the wires out of the buttons. Fancier cases have the buttons mounted to the actual frame, and the bezel simply has "extension buttons" to press them.

Post a link or a pic of your new case, that'd help.

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GeForce · TweakNOOB Joined: 22 Jan 2005 Posts: 81

Here we go mate, i think its a really nice case as well with a neon light in it. And yeah i opened it up today, and saw 2 more fan slots in it, so what do i need to do, take the front bit off?

Tell me what you think of the case.

*MOD: Image Edit*
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AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+, Gigabyte S series nForce550, 256mb GeForce 7800GTX, 1gb PC6400 Geil DDR2 150 & 80gig HDD, 650W PSU

Ham_fisT · Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2005 12:19 pm Post subject:

holy crap, those pictures are big

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ToggleHead · TWEAKGURU Joined: 03 Mar 2004 Posts: 4360 Location: Jersey

GeForce, please make those pics smaller...or use thumbnails.....Please, think of the dial-ups....=]
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[KoG]^weaZel · Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2005 2:42 pm Post subject:

or you can post a link to where the case is sold so we know what we are dealing with.

Or what they ^^^^^^^^^ said.
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GeForce · TweakNOOB Joined: 22 Jan 2005 Posts: 81

Sorry bout that guys.

http://www.fileshack.us/files/92/case%20001.jpg
http://www.fileshack.us/files/92/case%20002.jpg

Currently it has my old computer in, but its too nice a case too have some crap running in it, when i need something nice like that

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AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+, Gigabyte S series nForce550, 256mb GeForce 7800GTX, 1gb PC6400 Geil DDR2 150 & 80gig HDD, 650W PSU

Yoshida · UberTweaker Joined: 24 Dec 2003 Posts: 1219

definately need 2 fans in the back Very Happy

fussnfeathers · Lord of the Tweak Joined: 14 Dec 2004 Posts: 2763

Yup, that's a standard, generic mid-tower, structurally identical to my old clunker. You should see three, round "tabs" on each side of the case, those hold the front on. The wires for the power buttons and LED are hardwired to it, so go slowly. I would suggest two 80mm fans at the front,blowing in.... that's likely the only size you can use. Two at the back, of course, blowing out. Wierd that there's no side fan, though....... *shrugs*
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